He Trees a Kitty

We were on the deck over the water this morning and something on the far side of the pond caught Shadow's eye. I couldn't tell what it was as the tree was in shadow but Shadow's nose and eyes are much sharper than mine. I decided to let him free off of the leash and he took off like a shot. He had seen a small gray and white kitten that frequents the grounds and he got after it in short order, after all, what are kitties for, if not for chasing? The cat arched his back and hissed and quickly tired of this dark gray dog poking and nosing at him. He hopped onto a large oak tree branch and scampered to the safety of height. Shadow was dismayed, "Hey, that's cheating!" He didn't bark at the treed cat, but he stood guard until his wander lust took over. Shadow raced around the pond two times following the cat's scent. What he didn't see (or smell) was a little Calico cat, sitting up on the crest of the hill watching the chase. That kitty got up, stretched and wandered over to plop down in a patch of sunlight and relax. Shadow came back to the deck, watched the koi finish feeding for a few more minutes and we walked back up the hill to the house. It was a good start to the morning.